If you’re looking for a heartwarming
story about a girl who falls deeply in love with a troubled boy who changes her
life–a sob story with pretty metaphors and a million ways that’ll tell you how
“broken” she is, STOP. Don’t read another word of this.I’m not that type of girl. My name is Emerald Anderson and I’m not going to bullshit you: I flunked out of
college after my sophomore year, I’ve been fired from every job I’ve ever
taken, and I’ve never had a fully functioning relationship in my life.

I wish I could say that I had a cheerleader in my corner, someone who says,
“No, Emerald–You’re great and you are good at something!” but I
don’t. My grandparents are completely oblivious to my life, and my mother’s
dying words to me were “You’re going to end up just like me one day. A
beautiful nothing.”

She was right.

As I decide to start my life over and take two jobs that will forever change
me–one from the inside, and one from the outside, I keep my mother’s words
close to my heart so I can keep the sexy and mysterious Carter Black away.

He’s the first man who’s ever pursued me, the first man who seems bent on
finding out why I am the way I am, but he’s wasting his time.

I’m not broken. I don’t need to be fixed. I’m perfectly fine being a beautiful
failure…

Author Bio

Mariah Cole is a Starbucks addict
(hazelnut shots please!), New Adult author, and an incessant daydreamer. Known
for pushing the envelope, she’s an avid reader of indie books and is always
looking to chat with readers and authors alike.

Beautiful Failure Deleted Scene

(A Flashback)

“Em! Em!” Leah walks through the front door with shopping bags dangling from her wrists.

“Yeah?” I hold the phone against my neck. “I’m ordering pizza. You want some? We could watch bad movies and make fun of them together.”

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Riiiight. I’m leaving for New York tonight with Vincent. Look at what he bought for me to wear on the plane!”

She pulls out a white satin dress and holds it against her chest.

There’s no doubt that she’ll look beautiful in it. She looks beautiful in everything…

“When are you coming back?”

“Monday maybe? Tuesday? It’s not like I’ll be in a hurry. It’s New York, kid.” She perfectly imitates a New-Yorker’s accent.

I hear the pizza operator saying “Hello” over and over so I finish ordering the pizza, watching Leah pull out her other designer purchases.

When I set the phone down, she motions for me to come over.

“While I’m gone, feel free to invite your boyfriend over,” she says. “Do you need me to get you some condoms?”

“I told you I dumped him two months ago.”

“So?” She shrugs. “You can still use him for sex. Oh, wait. I forgot. He wasn’t good at it, right?”

“Right.”

She sighs. “I hate when that happens. I always have to fake my way through it when the man has no idea what he’s doing. It’s a damn shame, really.”

“My writing seminar is Monday night. Can you tell Vincent you need to be back by then so you can make it?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She presses her finger against my lips and sighs. “You put on too much gloss today….” She reaches into another shopping bag and hands me a new compact make-up case. “You should use this for your presentation on Monday.”

“Thanks.” I force a smile and listen as she starts to show off more of her purchases, knowing damn well that she won’t be in the audience Monday.

She’ll forget like she always does, and I’ll forgive her like I always do. Then we’ll both end up drunk and restless on our balcony…